SHOW REVIEW: Lawrence @ The Fonda

At most concerts these days, you might find some awkward, repetitive bobbing at best, but it was impossible to keep still as Lawrence brought the house down at the Fonda Theatre last Friday. Founded by siblings Clyde and Gracie Lawrence, the now 8-person group is a pop-soul and funk band with roots in New York City and Brown University. (Perhaps it’s something about Ivy League-founded bands, but with the guys in “Lawrence”-labeled baseball jerseys and Gracie in an American Apparel-era tennis skirt, the fresh laundry scent of Vampire Weekend was heavy in the air.) 

Opening up with “More”, the first track off their 2018 “Living Room” album, Lawrence stepped out with an electricity that drove the rest of the show, with Gracie as the lightning rod. If you think you’ve heard belting, you have not heard this tiny, New Yorker, Jewish woman of only 22 years of age. These are simply the facts. It was impossible to take your attention off of Gracie the entire concert, as her perfectly executed runs every other song brought people to tears – one man behind me sob-screamed to profess his love for her on multiple occasions. The dynamic chemistry among the bandmates (special shoutout to Jordan Cohen on tenor sax and some sweet bass vocals!) flowed right into the audience as the instrumentalists bounced from stage left to right. Funk bands can really afford to expend that much energy as performers because they feed off each other so well, and Lawrence spent it to the best of their abilities..

Even though Gracie absolutely stole the show, Clyde, in his classic red varsity jacket, was clearly the core member binding everyone together. After all, it was originally “The Clyde Lawrence Band”. His unmistakably scratchy baritone provides the base for the majority of their songs, from his ballad solo on “So Damn Fast” to scorning toxic masculinity on “Superficial”. What makes Lawrence songs attractive are their straight to the point lyrics with a hint of relatability – on “Probably Up”, Clyde croons about how “with the hours that I keep”, “I'll be up until the morning/With SNL and Conan”. Gracie shone and shimmied as she lamented the double standards of dating on my personal favorite, heterosexual bop “Make a Move”: “Would it be unladylike and manly to message you first?/Would you think I'm the worst if I messaged you first?”

While every single one of their original songs was enjoyable, it became clear that no one does a cover quite like Lawrence when they covered Sean Paul’s “Get Busy”, almost unrecognizable within the bars of the smooth bass and Gracie’s deliberate, Broadway-esque vocalizing. The highlight of the night, however, had to be getting the floor into the “Cha Cha Slide”, featuring guest star, funk-soul singer and Vulfpeck frequenter Antwaun Stanley. Oh yes – everyone dropped it as low as they could go. Finishing off the night with their hit “Do You Wanna Do Nothing With Me?”, Lawrence left their Los Angeles fans star-struck and at least 1000x more sprightly than when they arrived. Make sure to catch them on the rest of their “New Season” tour through May!

— Claire Bai, DJ